Mr Kallus
by PrincessTadashi
Summary: Little Ezra Bridger loves his new adopted family, but he isn't too happy when his Uncle Zeb brings home a new boyfriend, Mr. Kallus, who seems to be taking up all of his beloved uncle's time. But when an accident leaves no one but Kallus available to babysit, Ezra finds that maybe Mr. Kallus isn't as bad as he thought. (Modern AU; Kalluzeb)
1. Meeting Mr Kallus

Ezra was happy. Why shouldn't he be? Well… Maybe there were some things not to be happy about. Some really sad things, like losing mommy and daddy a year ago. But some really good things had happened too-like meeting Mr. Kanan who was so nice to him when he found him after mommy and daddy had gone missing and taken him home to stay with him while the other police were trying to find Ezra's parents. And even though Ezra was really sad that the police had never found his parents, Mr. Kanan and his pretty wife Miss Hera had told him that he could stay with them as long as he wanted to. Mr. Kanan and Miss Hera were so nice to him and took care of him, and even though his new sister, Sabine, teased him sometimes, she was really nice too. She said that she'd lost her parents too, and sometimes when Ezra was really sad and started crying because he missed his parents, she would hug him or do something silly to make him laugh. And then there was Uncle Zeb-he was so cool and super strong and he taught Ezra stuff like martial arts and would look after him when Mr. Kanan and Miss Hera couldn't. After a while, Ezra almost felt like he had a new family. Even though he still missed his parents, he knew that they'd want him to be happy, and while he was a bit worried that they'd be upset the day he accidentally called Kanan "Daddy", Kanan and Hera told him that they were sure they wouldn't be mad at him and that they were really happy that Ezra thought of them like they were his parents too. They said that it was okay if he called them Mama and Papa like Sabine did if that made him feel better, so that's exactly what Ezra did. Kanan told him that it was okay to have more than one set of parents, and since he was so smart Ezra knew that what he said had to be true. Everything was really, really good. That is, until the day that Mr. Kallus showed up.

Ezra had been feeling really sad about his birthday because on his last birthday his parents had gone missing. But Mama and Papa told him that he didn't have to be sad, and to make him feel better they gave him the best birthday ever. They made him his favorite food for breakfast, yummy blueberry pancakes with lots of syrup, and as a special surprise Papa took him to the police station with him for the day! All of the other police officers were really nice and Ezra got to ride in a police car and help Papa out all day! And when they got home, Mama told him she'd made him a big chocolate cake a really special supper and, even better, that Uncle Zeb was coming to visit! Ezra was so excited to see Uncle Zeb-he waited right by the door while Mama finished making supper, he wanted to see him the second he got there! But when Uncle Zeb arrived and Papa helped Ezra open the door, Ezra was surprised to see that he had another man with him-someone Ezra had never met before. Ezra was still really shy around strangers and he didn't like having someone he didn't know suddenly showing up at the house, especially on his birthday. Ezra hid behind Papa's legs, and he didn't come out until Uncle Zeb talked to him, telling him that it was okay, that the new man was Mr. Kallus and that he was his boyfriend. Ezra didn't know that Uncle Zeb had a boyfriend, but even if Uncle Zeb liked Mr. Kallus he wasn't sure that he did. Mr. Kallus smiled at him and told him how much Uncle Zeb talked about him, but Ezra still didn't trust him. He smelled like soap and he didn't laugh or tell jokes like Uncle Zeb did. Ezra still had a good birthday even with Mr. Kallus there by staying close to Mama and Papa, but as he went to bed that night Ezra hoped that he wouldn't ever have to see him again.

Unfortunately, over the next few months, Ezra saw a lot of Mr. Kallus. Whenever Uncle Zeb came to visit, he always brought Mr. Kallus with him, and sometimes when Ezra asked Uncle Zeb to come over and play he'd say that he couldn't because he had a "date" with Mr .Kallus. Mama said that it was normal for boyfriends to want to spend time alone together, and it didn't mean that Uncle Zeb loved Ezra any less. But Ezra still didn't like it and even though he knew it was mean he decided that he really, really didn't like Mr. Kallus and that he was never, ever going to like him, no matter what happened. That is, he was sure until the night that made everything change.

Mama and Papa were going out on a date, and while Ezra hated having them gone, he knew that Uncle Zeb was coming to visit, and since Sabine was sleeping over at her friend Ketsu's house, he knew that he was going to have Uncle Zeb all to himself for once and he was very excited about it! Or he was excited until the phone call came. Mama was finishing getting ready to go, and Ezra was telling her how pretty she looked in her dress when suddenly her phone started ringing. Ezra wasn't too worried when she answered it-it was probably just a friend calling her about something-but he started feeling a bit worried when he saw her frowning and sounding upset. When she hung up, Mama went to go talk to Papa, and from what Ezra overheard her saying Uncle Zeb couldn't come babysit because his friend Rex had been in a fishing accident and was in the hospital. Ezra started feeling a bit scared-who was going to stay with him while Mama and Papa were gone tonight? Were they going to stay home instead of going out? But then Mama said something that made everything even worse-she said that Mr. Kallus was coming to babysit instead of Uncle Zeb.

Ezra tried to explain to Mama and Papa that he didn't want Mr. Kallus to babysit him. He tried to make them understand, he begged them to stay home, but they just kept telling him that Mr. Kallus would take good care of him and that they'd have a lot of fun together if Ezra would give him a chance. Ezra didn't want to give him a chance and he knew that they wouldn't have any fun together-tonight was going to be the worst night ever! He wanted to hide in his room, but Papa made him come say hello to Mr. Kallus when he arrived. Ezra did because he had to, but he wasn't happy about it. Mr. Kallus told Mama and Papa that everything would be fine and that they shouldn't worry. Ezra secretly tried to beg them one last time to stay, but Mama and Papa just kissed him goodbye and told him to be good and then they were gone.

"So," Mr. Kallus said when the door was closed and Ezra saw Mama and Papa driving away. "What do you want to do tonight?"

Ezra folds his arms over his chest and frowns up at him-he would be good so Mama and Papa wouldn't be mad at him, but he wasn't going to be nice and play with someone he didn't like.

"Do you want to play a game?" Mr. Kallus asks when Ezra doesn't answer.

Ezra just shakes his head and walks into the living room, wanting to be alone. But Mr. Kallus follows after him.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Mr. Kallus tries again.

"I don' wanna do anything with you," Ezra finally answers with a frown, wanting to make it very clear how he felt about all of this.

"I see." Mr. Kallus looked a bit upset, and Ezra felt just a tiny bit bad about that, but he doesn't apologize and just goes to play with the blocks Mama had put out with him. For a while Mr. Kallus just watches him and Ezra knew that the nice thing to do would be to ask him if he wanted to play too, but he didn't want to be nice. He didn't want Mr. Kallus here, and that was that.

Finally, Mr. Kallus tries talking to him again. "Will you be okay playing here while I go make us some dinner?" he asks.

Ezra really didn't want to answer, but he knew that if he said yes then Mr. Kallus would go away and so he just nods without looking away from his blocks. He hears Mr. Kallus sigh and get up, and Ezra honestly felt a lot better once he was gone and in the kitchen. Usually Ezra would help Mama and Papa in the kitchen when they were cooking, but he didn't want to help Mr. Kallus. He didn't know what he was going to cook, but he was sure it would be something gross and he was determined he wasn't going to eat it, no matter how hungry he was.

Still, despite his best intentions, eventually Ezra starts to smell something really good coming from the kitchen, and his mouth begins to water. Even though he told himself he wasn't hungry and that he didn't care what Mr. Kallus was cooking, the good smell became too much for him, and he finds himself wandering into the kitchen to investigate.

"Well, hello," Mr. Kallus says, smiling when he sees Ezra standing in the doorway.

"Hi…" Ezra answers quietly, daring to come a little closer in hopes of seeing what he was making that smelled so yummy.

"Want to help me?" Mr. Kallus asks, gesturing to whatever it was he was making.

"Can I?" Ezra looks up at him in surprise-he always asked Mama and Papa if he could help them cook but they never let him, they just told him to help set the table or something like that.

"Sure!" Mr. Kallus answers, pulling a stool over to the stove. "You can help me stir the sauce."

Ezra was torn-he didn't like Mr. Kallus, but he was offering to actually let him help cook… Eventually the desire to do something fun wins out, and Ezra scurries over to join him.

"Here we go." Mr. Kallus gently lifts Ezra up onto the stool, and Ezra was surprised by how strong he was-not as strong as Uncle Zeb, but he could probably give really good piggy back rides or play airplane! Not that Ezra wanted to play with him, the little boy quickly reminds himself. But all the same he still probably could.

"Let's see…" Mr. Kallus was smiling at him again. "I can't have my kitchen helper getting dirty. Let's find you something appropriate to wear!"

Mr. Kallus goes over to the other side of the kitchen and he returns a moment later with one of Mama's aprons. "There we go!" He carefully ties it around Ezra-it was too big, but since Ezra was sitting on a stool that was okay. "Now you look like a real chef!"

"Really?" Ezra asks, forgetting for a moment to be suspicious of him.

"Of course!" Mr. Kallus answers with a grin. "And I should know, because I am a chef myself!"

"You are?" Ezra didn't know that.

"I am," Mr. Kallus replies seriously as he hands Ezra a spoon to stir the pot with. "I spend a lot of time learning new recipes!"

"Wow…" Ezra looks up at him in slight awe before looking down at the pot in front of him. "What's this called?"

"It's called Puttanesca," Mr. Kallus answers. "I learned how to make it while I was traveling in Italy."

"You've been to Italy?" Ezra asks, eyes going wide.

"I've been to a lot of places," Mr. Kallus chuckles.

"Where?" Ezra had completely forgotten to not like him at this point-he was having too much fun to even remember to frown.

"Well, let's see…." Mr. Kallus starts telling him about all the countries that he's travelled to as they continue cooking the food together, and Ezra has so many questions that they keep talking even while they're eating the puttanesca, which actually turns out to taste as yummy as it smells!

After dinner was over, Ezra decides to ask Mr. Kallus if he'd like to play with his blocks with him, and Mr. Kallus actually turns out to be very good at building with them-he helps Ezra make a huge tower, even bigger than the tallest one he'd ever made with Uncle Zeb! When they finish building the tower, they watch a movie together-Mr. Kallus lets Ezra pick out anything he wants, and he doesn't even fall asleep in the middle of it like Uncle Zeb usually does. Ezra always thought that adult thought _Wreck It Ralph_ was a kid's movie, but Mr. Kallus actually seems to like it, and he didn't seem to mind at all when Ezra climbs into his lap during the sad part where Ralph and Vanellope have their big fight or when Ezra hugs him because Turbo scares him just a little bit at the end. Mr. Kallus actually had a very comfortable lap, and he was a very good cuddler-not as good as Uncle Zeb, but still good. Ezra didn't even realize how late it was until he hears the front door opening and Mama and Papa come inside.

"Did you two have a good time?" Mama asks, smiling when she sees them.

"I don't know," Mr. Kallus answers, looking down at Ezra. "Did we?"

"The best!" Ezra replies, beaming up at him, and Mr. Kallus smiles back, looking very, very happy.

Ezra almost didn't want Mr. Kallus to leave, but he was getting sleepy and Papa said that it was time for him to go to bed. Still, Ezra insists that Mr. Kallus come help tuck him in, and while Mama and Papa said that it was getting late and Mr. Kallus needed to go home, Mr. Kallus tells them that it's okay and he actually helps Ezra get ready for bed before tucking him in.

"Mr. Kallus?" Ezra says shyly after he's safely under the covers with his night light on and Mr. Kallus is going to turn off the lights.

"Yes?" Mr. Kallus answers, coming back over to him. "Is everything all right?"

Ezra nods, feeling a bit nervous, before asking hopefully, "C-Can I call you Uncle Kallus?"

A huge grin spreads across Kallus' face. "Yes, I would like that very much," he answers softly.

Ezra beams back up at him, putting his arms out for a hug. "Good night, Uncle Kallus!"

"Good night, Ezra," Uncle Kallus answers, hugging him tightly back.

And as Ezra peacefully drifts off to sleep, his favorite stuffed cat hugged to his chest, he hopes that Uncle Kallus will come back to visit again soon.


	2. Karabast

Ezra knew that today was a special day. It was Mama and Papa's An… Anna... Anniversary! They had told him that it meant that they'd been married today eight years ago (which, Ezra thought, was a really long time!) and that since it was such an important day, like a birthday, they wanted to do something to celebrate it by doing something special together. At first Ezra thought this meant that all of them would be doing something really cool together as a family, but then Mama and Papa had told him that actually they were going to be going away, just the two of them. Ezra had been a bit sad that he wasn't able to go with them and help them do fun things on their special day, but Papa had told him that he and Mama would just be doing gross mushy stuff the whole time and suddenly the little boy didn't feel near as keen to go with them. And then Mama had told him something that made him feel not at all sad about not going on the trip-he and Sabine would be getting to stay with Uncle Zeb! Ezra would never turn down an opportunity to spend time with his favorite uncle, and he was even more excited that he was actually going to get to stay with him! He'd never stayed the night away from home before, and he knew it was going to be a lot of fun!

The night before Ezra and Sabine went to stay with Uncle Zeb, Mama and Papa helped them put everything into their backpacks that they would need for the weekend. Both Ezra and Sabine had a hard time choosing what to take-Mama said that they could only take two toys each, and Ezra finally settled on his kitty that he slept with every night and a toy robot that he loved playing with. As Ezra settles into bed that night, long after Mama and Papa had kissed him goodnight, he can't help but lie awake thinking about all the fun things that he was going to do this weekend!

The next morning, Papa woke him up while it was still dark out-he said that he and Mama had to start driving already so that they could get to where they were going, and while Ezra didn't like having to be awake so early, he somehow manages to stumble through getting ready for the day, even though Papa had to help him a lot even with things Ezra usually knew how to do on his own, like getting dressed. Ezra vaguely remembered Mama putting him into his car seat, but the next time he opened his eyes he was waking up in a bed that wasn't his own. He might have been more scared to be waking up in a strange room if he didn't have the feeling that he'd been here before. It took him a minute to figure out why he felt that way, but then he finally remembered that this was a room in Uncle Zeb's house! Feeling a lot better now that he knew where he was, he sits up in the bed, taking in his surroundings with more interest. The room didn't have much in it except for the bed he was sleeping in, although he saw his and Sabine's bags sitting by the door. He was debating investigating what might be in the closed closet if he could find a way to get the door open, but then suddenly he becomes aware of the smell of something really yummy drifting through the air, and his tiny stomach starts grumbling, reminding him that he hadn't had breakfast yet. The closet could wait for later. Right now, Ezra decided, he wanted to find where that yummy smell was coming from!

Climbing off of the bed and venturing across the carpeted floor, Ezra pulls on the door and finds, much to his relief, that it wasn't latched and he can easily get it open. Once he makes it out of the room, he finds himself in the living room, and, after a moment of deliberation, decides to head in the direction of the kitchen, which was where he was hearing voices coming from.

As soon as he steps into the kitchen, he beams as he sees Uncle Zeb sitting at the table with Sabine, who was happily working away at a stack of pancakes. And then, to his great surprise and delight, he notices that there was someone else in the room-Uncle Kallus!

"Uncle Zeb! Uncle Kallus!" Ezra cries, eagerly hurrying over to them.

"Hey, squirt!" Uncle Zeb grins and gets up from the table, scooping the little boy up into his arms and making him giggle. "I was wondering when you were finally going to wake up!"

Ezra beams and happily nuzzles up against him before frowning as he remembers something. "Mama and Papa?" he asks, realizing that he hadn't had a chance to say goodbye to them.

"They had to leave already," Uncle Zeb answers gently before adding quickly, "But they told me to tell you goodbye for them, and they promised to call tonight before you go to bed!"

Oh. Well, Ezra was still sad about not getting to say goodbye to Mama and Papa, but at least he was going to get to talk to them tonight, and until then he was going to be spending time with the best uncles in the whole world, so he decides not to be too upset. "Okay," he agrees, smiling up at Uncle Zeb before asking hopefully, "Are we going to be doing something fun today?"

"Of course we are!" Uncle Zeb answers with a grin, playfully ruffling Ezra's hair before setting him down in the chair across from Sabine.

"What are we gonna do?" Ezra asks eagerly.

"He said it was a surprise!" Sabine tells him, seeming a bit miffed that she hadn't been let in on the secret yet but mostly excited about the prospect.

"Can we go now?" Ezra looks hopefully up at Uncle Zeb.

"Not until after you've eaten your breakfast," Uncle Kallus tells him, coming over and putting a plate of pancakes (which Ezra now saw looked like smiley faces, with fruit making the silly eyes and smiles.) "You need to eat so you have plenty of energy for today."

"Okay!" Ezra agrees, beaming up at him and remembering his manners to say, "Thank you, Uncle Kallus!" before hurrying to eat his breakfast.

"Not so fast!" Uncle Kallus gently warns him, a slightly amused but firm expression on his face. "If you eat too fast, you'll make yourself sick."

"And if you get sick, you won't be able to go on the surprise adventure we have for you!" Uncle Zeb adds when Ezra didn't slow down by much. That was enough to make the little boy actually eat at a more normal speed-he didn't want to not be able to go on the adventure!

About half an hour later, Ezra and Sabine had both eaten what Uncle Kallus had deemed a sufficient amount of pancakes, and together he and Uncle Zeb were helping the kids into Uncle Zeb's truck. Ezra tried to be patient as his uncles did their best to buckle him and Sabine into their car seats-Mama and Papa always did this so quickly, why was it taking them so long? He wanted their adventure to start! At last, though, Uncle Zeb and Uncle Kallus finally seem to figure out what they're doing wrong and, when the last buckle is safely in place, they both climb into the front of the truck and they start off down the road.

It took what felt like forever to finally get where they were going. Sabine had a coloring book that she was working on, but Ezra kept his eyes glued to the window, determined to figure out where they were going. But wherever they were headed, Ezra had never seen these roads before, and no matter how many times he begged his uncles for a clue, neither of them would give him so much as a hint, and he was left to his own imaginings to figure out their final destination.

After what seemed like an eternity, Uncle Zeb finally pulls the truck to a stop in a parking lot, and Ezra eagerly looks out the window to see where they were. What he saw, however, was extremely disappointing-the only thing of interest was a small wooden building with a big fence behind it. Why on Earth had Uncle Zeb driven them this far just to see this little building? And then, to make it worse, Uncle Zeb didn't even let them out of the truck! He told them to stay put while he went into the building, leaving them to just sit in the back seat. Even Sabine was starting to look a little bit bored by this point, and she and Ezra trade doubtful glances, starting to suspect that maybe their beloved uncle was either starting to lose it or else this was some sort of joke that wasn't funny at all. Still, when Uncle Zeb returns, he was grinning, and as he climbs into the driver's seat again, he turns around and hands each of them a large paper cup full of greyish-brown pellets that looked something like the food they'd fed the class hamster Sabine had brought home from school once.

"Are we supposed to eat this?" Sabine asks, eyeing the pellets with distaste. Ezra, a bit more adventurous, carefully sniffs the contents, only to instantly wrinkle up his nose and pull away as the smell hits his nostrils-there was no way he was going to eat that!

"It's not for you!" Uncle Zeb chuckles. "It's for the animals!"

"What animals?" Sabine and Ezra chorus together after staring at each other in stunned silence for a moment.

"You'll just have to wait and see!" Uncle Zeb answers, grinning at them before starting to drive towards the gate. Ezra starts bouncing eagerly in his car seat-animals? Things were actually starting to sound like a real adventure now!

At the gate, Uncle Zeb hands a man in a booth a small piece of paper, and the man nods and presses a button that opens gates for them. Ezra and Sabine both eagerly look out their respective windows for any sign of the promised animals as they drive through, determined to be the first one to spot something interesting. They don't even realize that they had a visitor until suddenly they hear Uncle Zeb crying out from the front seat as the car comes to a sudden stop.

"HOLY-"

"ZEB." Before Uncle Zeb could finish whatever he was going to say, Uncle Kallus nudges his arm-hard-and he seems to rethink whatever it was that had been about to come out of his mouth. Usually Sabine and Ezra would have both been very interested in finding out what he'd almost said (probably a word that Mama and Papa wouldn't let them use) but at the moment they were much too distracted by the gigantic bird standing in front to the truck, it's long neck craning towards the window and eyeing them beadily through it. Both the siblings were a mixture of awed and just a tiny bit terrified.

"What is that?" Ezra breathes.

"It's an ostrich!" Sabine tells him eagerly. "It's a type of bird! I saw one in the book my teacher has about Africa!"

"That's a bird?" Ezra looks at her in disbelief.

"Yep!" Sabine answers, looking proud to know something her little brother didn't.

"I didn't know birds could be that big! How can it fly?" Ezra asks, not sure that he believes her.

"It can't," Sabine informs him. "But it can run really fast!"

"How can it be a bird if it can't fly?" Ezra objects.

"Not all birds fly!" Sabine tells him. "Like penguins-they're birds, and they can't fly!"

"...Penguins are birds?" Ezra asks in disbelief.

"Yeah they are!" Sabine answers proudly. "And so are-"

"As much as I hate to interrupt this ornithology lesson," Uncle Kallus gently interrupts her, "we do need to keep moving along since there are other cars behind us."

"And we need your help to get this oversized chicken out of the road," Uncle Zeb adds with a wry smile.

"How do we do that?" Ezra asks curiously.

"Y'know that food I gave you? I'm going to open your window, Ezra, and you're going to throw out a couple pieces-that'll get his attention, and when he goes to eat it we can drive past him," Uncle Zeb explains.

"But don't throw it all out-we've got a lot of animals to see today and they'll all be hungry," Uncle Kallus adds with a slight smile.

"Oh-okay!" Ezra agrees with a grin. He felt a bit nervous as Uncle Zeb opens the window-what if the ostrich put his head in the window and tried to bite him or something? Still, he takes a couple of the pellets tosses them, and, as promised, the giant bird instantly darts to the side of the truck to gobble them up.

"Wow…" Ezra breathes, staring at the ostrich as they drive past it-it was even bigger closer up! Still, he doesn't have too long to think about that-Sabine was eagerly pointing out the window to where some big, deer-like animals were grazing, and Ezra's attention was instantly focused on them.

The rest of the morning passed in much the same way-they saw gazelles and wildebeests and sables (Uncle Kallus helped them use a special book the man at the gate had given them to find the names for each of them) and even zebras! About what Uncle Zeb said was halfway through the park, they came to a place where there were lots of tables to eat at and, even better, a petting zoo! Somehow Ezra and Sabine managed to get through eating their lunch (the sandwiches Uncle Kallus had made were super yummy, but they really wanted to go see more animals!) before they were finally allowed to go see the petting zoo. They had a great time getting to pet the sheep and goats and even some cute little bunnies, and in big cages where they couldn't actually touch them, they got to see some really pretty birds and even some big animals like cheetahs and rhinos!

After they finished at the petting zoo, they all got back in car to finish driving their way through the park. The second half was almost as cool as the first-there were still a lot of really fun animals to see, even, to both Ezra and Sabine's great delight, giraffes! Still, with all of the excitement of the day, by the time that they finally drive out of the gate that let them out of the park, both siblings were starting to feel very tired, and even though Ezra decided that he was only going to close his eyes for a moment, by the time he opened them again, he was already back at Uncle Zeb's house.

Uncle Kallus unbuckles him from his car seat, and, still feeling sleepy, Ezra wraps his arms and legs around him, burying his face into his uncle's neck.

"Do you want me to carry you in?" Uncle Kallus asks, sounding like he was probably smiling even though Ezra couldn't see his face. Ezra just nods in response, and he was glad for once that Uncle Kallus didn't tell him that he was a big boy and could walk on his own and instead just carries him inside. Ezra really didn't want to let go when Uncle Kallus started to put him down on the couch, and he started to whine in protest, but then Uncle Kallus reminded him that he still had to make supper for them all and finally the little boy lets go, pressing into the couch cushions to make up for the loss of having his uncle's arms around him. Sabine, who was looking a bit sleepy herself, crawls up onto the couch next to him, and even though they didn't usually like to cuddle, Ezra doesn't complain when she nuzzles up against him, actually somewhat grateful to have a warm body near him. They probably would have stayed like that until Uncle Zeb and Uncle Kallus had told them it was time for dinner, but they both bolt wide awake when suddenly they hear the sound of dish breaking, followed by a Uncle Zeb shouting a word that neither of them had ever heard before but that they were definitely sure their parents wouldn't let them use.

Both wide awake now and extremely curious, by silent agreement the siblings get up and head towards the kitchen where they find their uncles cleaning up what looked like the shards of a broken plate.

"Zeb, you need to be more careful!" Uncle Kallus was saying.

"I didn't try to break the dish, it slipped out of my hands!" Uncle Zeb answers. "It was an accident!"

"I don't mean that!" Uncle Kallus snaps. "I meant the swearing! You can't do that when we have Sabine and Ezra in the house! What if they'd heard you?"

"Uh, we kind of did," Sabine says, a mischievous grin on her face, and both of their uncles instantly turn to look at them, Uncle Zeb especially looking slightly horrified.

"S-Sabine! Ezra!" he says, a worried expression on his face. "Y-You won't tell your parents I said that, will you?"

"Maybe…" Sabine replies with a sneaky smile. "But only if you tell us what it means first!"

"What it means," Uncle Kallus puts in quickly before Uncle Zeb can say anything, "is something that you will learn about when you're older."  
"Why can't we know about it now?" Ezra asks curiously.

"Because…" Uncle Kallus seems to be considering how to answer this. "It's something that you're not quite ready to understand yet. It's like… You know how in school the teacher doesn't tell you how to do something until you've learned enough to be ready to do it?"

"Um… Maybe?" Ezra says uncertainly.

"You mean like how I can read the books with chapters 'cause I'm in third grade grade but Ezra can't yet 'cause he's still in Kindergarten and he's learning his words?" Sabine puts in.

"Yes, exactly!" Uncle Kallus agrees. "It's like that. The word means something that, when you're old enough, your parents will explain it to you. And once you know what it means, then you can choose whether or not to use the word, but until you know what the word means you shouldn't say it because you don't know what exactly you're saying to someone. Does that make sense?"

"I... think so," Sabine answers carefully, nodding. Ezra nods too. He wasn't sure he fully understood, but if Uncle Kallus thought that it wasn't a good idea for him to say it then he'd listen to him.

"Good." Uncle Kallus gives them a warm smile, and Uncle Zeb looked relieved. "Thank you for understanding."

"But wait-if it's something we're not allowed to know about yet, why is it something that Uncle Zeb said because he broke a plate? Does the word have something have to do with breaking something?" Sabine asks, looking confused, and Ezra could see her point-why weren't they allowed to say something about a plate breaking?

"No, it doesn't," Uncle Zeb answers. "It's- Sometimes people say it when they're upset, even though the word has nothing to do with what they're upset about."

"Well that doesn't make any sense!" Sabine frowns.

"No, it doesn't," Uncle Zeb replies, to Ezra's surprise looking like he was trying not to smile for some reason. "But I'll tell you what-how about I help you guys come up with a silly word that you can say when you're upset that doesn't really mean anything so your parents won't get upset if you say it?"

"That sounds good!" Ezra says with a smile-that actually sounded fun!

"...Yeah, okay," Sabine agrees after thinking it over. "What should it be?"

"How about… Karabast?" Uncle Zeb answers after a moment's thought.

"Karabast?" Ezra giggles at the silly-sounding word.

"It's as good as any other word," Uncle Zeb chuckles.

"Okay, Karabast sounds good," Sabine says with a slight smile.

"And I'm sure your uncle will make sure to use it too," Uncle Kallus adds, giving Uncle Zeb a pointed look.

"R-Right," Uncle Zeb quickly agrees before saying, "Now c'mon, let's finish cleaning up this mess so we can all have dinner, okay?"

"Dinner!" Ezra says, beaming, the whole discussion they'd just had quickly going out of his head-he was more worried about what yummy food they'd have for dinner than about words he could or couldn't use. By the time he was finished getting ready for bed, having brushed his teeth and put on his pajamas, he had completely forgotten about it. Still, he hadn't forgotten about the entire day, and while his uncles were tucking him and Sabine in, some of it comes back to him and he says softly, "Uncle Zeb? Uncle Kallus"

"Yeah, sport?" Uncle Zeb answers, lightly ruffling his hair.

"Thank you for such a fun day!" Ezra tells him, happily nuzzling into the touch.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Uncle Zeb says, looking a bit embarrassed but not upset by the praise.

"We did!" Sabine reassures him, grinning.

"Well, we're glad you had such a fun time." Uncle Kallus smiles as he finishes tucking them in. "Now, time for sleep, you two."

"Sweet dreams." Uncle Zeb tells them as they go to turn off the lights.

"Love you, Uncle Zeb! Love you, Uncle Kallus!" Ezra calls after them.

"Love you!" Sabine agrees.

"We love you too," Uncle Zeb answers, smiling at them from the hallway, his arm wrapped around Uncle Kallus' waist.

"Very, very much," Uncle Kallus affirms.

Ezra beams at them before letting out a large yawn and settling contentedly back against his pillows. Today had been so much fun, and he couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would hold!


End file.
